Bromley / Planning & development
Air quality assessment in Bromley
From Bromley town centre and Beckenham to Orpington, Chislehurst and Biggin Hill, the right assessment starts with the sources, the people exposed and the actual site.
ACP provides air quality assessment, monitoring and mitigation advice for planning. We connect local evidence with transport, ventilation, energy and construction design.
Discuss your projectLocal policy and validation
Policy 120, sensitive uses and the January 2025 requirements.
Monitoring and exposure
Harwood Avenue, 32 tube locations and the AQMA boundary.
Your assessment brief
Turn the planning question into useful project evidence.
01 / Local sources and receptors
Urban corridors and rural settings need different briefs
Bromley town centre and Beckenham
Check road-facing homes, school rooms, servicing and air intakes. Harwood Avenue is a kerbside monitor; its result describes that setting, rather than every residential façade or background location.
Orpington and the Cray corridor
The High Street, Orpington tube provides a useful local comparison with the central Bromley monitor. Include junctions, traffic changes, commercial uses and the location of new occupants in the scope.
Biggin Hill and the rural south
Establish whether airport activity, associated road traffic, plant or other nearby sources are relevant to the proposal. Being outside the AQMA does not remove the need to assess a credible source–receptor pathway.
Bromley’s AQMA does not cover the whole borough
The council describes a northern designation, excluding Biggin Hill, Darwin and parts of St Mary Cray, St Pauls Cray and Chelsfield. The expanded AQMA is for annual nitrogen dioxide. Check the mapped boundary for the address.
Defra: current expanded AQMA record · Council explanation and boundary context
02 / Monitoring evidence
NO₂ has fallen, while particles increased in 2025
The council’s annual status report covers measurements in 2025 and was published in May 2026. Harwood Avenue’s annual NO₂ fell from 20.0 to 17.0 µg/m³. All 32 reported tube sites were below the annual NO₂ objective in 2025.
Automatic station
Harwood Avenue measures NO₂, PM₁₀ and PM₂.₅.
Tube locations
Roadside and kerbside NO₂ locations in ASR Table C.
Orpington annual NO₂
µg/m³ at High Street tube 19, compared with 40.1 in 2024.
Measured annual NO₂ / µg/m³
Two different local monitoring settings
Separate automatic kerbside measurements from bias-adjusted tube results. Each chart shows the years available in its reported series.
Harwood Avenue
BRY-CM3 · automatic kerbside
17 µg/m³ in 2025
2025 valid data capture: 98.0%.
High Street, Orpington
Tube 19 · roadside
33.1 µg/m³ in 2025
2025 valid data capture: 100.0%.
View the annual NO₂ values
| Year | Harwood Avenue | Orpington tube 19 |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 24.7 | — |
| 2020 | 21.3 | — |
| 2021 | 21.8 | 41.9 |
| 2022 | 20.1 | 40.6 |
| 2023 | 19 | 38.8 |
| 2024 | 20 | 40.1 |
| 2025 | 17 | 33.1 |
A dash indicates no value in the selected tube series. Values describe the monitoring position. They do not isolate the effect of one intervention or establish exposure at a proposed window.
03 / Pollutants and data quality
Keep particles and receptor exposure in the picture
| Pollutant | 2024 | 2025 | 2025 capture |
|---|---|---|---|
| NO₂ | 20.0 | 17.0 | 98.0% |
| PM₁₀ | 16.0 | 18.0 | 96.0% |
| PM₂.₅ | 9.0 | 12.0 | 94.0% |
The PM₂.₅ comparison follows Table I: 9.0 µg/m³ in 2024 and 12.0 in 2025. The executive summary gives a different 2024 value of 10.0.
Tube capture and adjustment
Most tube locations have good annual coverage, but Anerley Road tube 11 has 59.6% capture. Read the annualisation and bias-adjustment notes before using a short series or comparing locations.
Exposure is a separate position
Harwood Avenue’s inlet is 0.4 metres from the kerb; the report identifies relevant exposure 10.8 metres away. Keep the monitor, the existing receptor and the proposed receptor distinct.
Sources beyond exhaust emissions
The Local Plan identifies domestic and commercial heating, cooking, industry and construction alongside traffic. Match the pollutants and averaging periods to the source; an NO₂ improvement does not describe every particle source.
Use background data alongside the local network
Check the relevant Defra grid, measurement year and monitoring environment. Avoid counting the same road or plant contribution in both the background and the explicit model. Assess proposed rooms, amenity spaces and intakes at their actual positions.
Defra local-authority air-quality dashboard · Council annual-report library
04 / Policy and submission
Connect Policy 120 with the application requirements
Adopted Local Plan
The plan was adopted on 16 January 2019. Policy 120 addresses developments affecting air quality and new occupants exposed above objective levels. It also addresses Air Quality Neutral and combustion plant within the AQMA.
Read Policy 120, printed page 223 · Current Local Plan gateway
January 2025 validation guidance
The guidance identifies major development, potentially polluting or traffic-generating proposals in AQMA or Focus Areas, and vulnerable users considered case by case. A minor proposal can still need a full assessment where local features justify it.
Read the air-quality requirements, pages 21–22 · Application-specific checklist
Town-centre SPDs
Use the relevant town-centre guidance alongside the borough policies. Orpington’s SPD was adopted on 5 July 2023; Bromley Town Centre’s SPD on 18 October 2023. Neither replaces the site-specific air-quality assessment.
Orpington Town Centre SPD · Bromley Town Centre SPD · Current supplementary-guidance list
Ventilation, odour and construction
Policy 121 addresses ventilation and odour control for food and drink proposals; Policy 123 covers sustainable design and construction. Coordinate extract treatment, discharge, noise and nearby homes using the same layout and equipment information.
London Plan SI1: keep the evidence streams clear
Assess impacts and future exposure, then show the applicable Air Quality Neutral calculations and any Air Quality Positive design approach separately. Use current GLA methods alongside the older policy’s references.
The London air-quality guide and tools connect these requirements with borough evidence.
05 / Design and mitigation
Design for the people who will use the site
Homes, schools and care uses
Show sensitive rooms, playgrounds, gardens and intake locations against the relevant sources. A small change of use can introduce vulnerable occupants without a large increase in floor area.
Traffic, heating and extract
Use the submitted servicing, parking, energy and equipment design. Establish flue height, discharge conditions and operating hours where a combustion or extract source requires assessment.
Demolition and construction
Assess dust from demolition, earthworks, construction and trackout. Link the risk assessment to a practical management plan, appropriate monitoring and current NRMM requirements.
Where a credible pathway reaches a sensitive ecological site, include the relevant ecological air-pollution question. Use a source and receptor assessment rather than assuming every rural location has the same baseline.
Local delivery / Council evidence
Carry assessment findings into the construction plan
The 2025 annual report records Bromley’s use of construction environmental management plans for relevant major development and real-time PM₁₀ monitoring at high-risk sites. It also reports applying construction and NRMM requirements through the planning process.
For an application, separate the evidence needed to assess the proposal from the controls needed to deliver it. Identify who acts on monitoring results, which activities trigger a response and how the measures appear in the construction plan.
06 / Interactive project checklist
Bromley evidence planner
Answer five questions to organise your brief. Unanswered points remain visible in the checklist so you can identify the information still needed.
Answers stay in this page. The planner organises evidence and does not decide planning requirements or certify compliance.
Project examples / Scope and design
Turn the proposal into an assessment brief
Use the proposed use and local setting to identify the inputs and design decisions to assess.
Road-facing homes, a school or care use
Inputs: occupied rooms, gardens, playgrounds, intakes, road position and the relevant monitoring or background evidence.
Design decisions: layout and ventilation options, supported by an exposure assessment where appropriate.
A restaurant or takeaway
Inputs: cooking equipment, operating hours, extract route, odour treatment, discharge and nearby windows.
Design decisions: a coordinated extract, odour and fan-noise scheme for the submitted layout.
Demolition or a major construction site
Inputs: activities, programme, access routes, machinery and sensitive neighbours.
Design decisions: proportionate dust controls, monitoring and a clear response to trigger levels.
07 / Emerging policy and future evidence
Track the plan review and the next action plan
Bromley’s adopted plan remains the 2019 Local Plan. The replacement plan’s Direction of Travel Regulation 18 consultation ran from July to September 2025. Emerging material needs its own status and weight in the planning evidence.
The draft Air Quality Action Plan 2027–2031 consultation ran from 7 September to 18 October 2026. As checked on 20 October 2026, the published material remains a consultation draft. The current 2020 plan was extended to cover 2026.
Local Plan review and evidence · Draft AQAP 2027–2031 · Council consultation dates and status
At regional and national level, check the guidance and data edition used at submission. Keep health-based ambitions, future targets, emerging London policy and current assessment criteria clearly identified.
08 / Send what you have
Start your Bromley air quality brief
Send the information available now:
- Site address, planning reference and proposed use.
- Plans showing sensitive rooms, gardens and intakes.
- Council comments, validation request or conditions.
- Traffic, servicing, parking and energy proposals.
- Plant, kitchen extract and ventilation details.
- Construction activities, access routes and programme.
- Previous reports and changes since they were prepared.
We can then identify the assessment workstreams and the inputs needed for a useful submission.
Questions / Local answers
Bromley air-quality FAQs
Is all of Bromley inside an Air Quality Management Area?
No. The council describes a northern AQMA excluding Biggin Hill, Darwin and parts of St Mary Cray, St Pauls Cray and Chelsfield. Check the mapped boundary for the actual address. The expanded designation concerns annual nitrogen dioxide.
What does Bromley Local Plan Policy 120 cover?
Policy 120 covers developments likely to affect air quality and proposals exposing future occupants above objective levels. It also addresses Air Quality Neutral and combustion plant within the AQMA. Read it with London Plan SI1 and current guidance.
Can a smaller school or care proposal need an assessment?
Yes. The January 2025 validation guidance identifies vulnerable users for case-by-case consideration. Local sources, exposure and design can justify a full assessment even where a proposal is not major development.
How much air-quality monitoring does Bromley do?
The 2025 report lists one automatic station at Harwood Avenue and 32 diffusion-tube locations. The automatic station measures nitrogen dioxide, PM10 and PM2.5; the tubes measure nitrogen dioxide.
What changed in the 2025 results?
Harwood Avenue annual NO2 fell from 20.0 to 17.0 µg/m³. Its PM10 increased from 16.0 to 18.0, while Table I reports PM2.5 rising from 9.0 to 12.0. These are annual measurements at that monitor.
Does being outside the AQMA remove the assessment need?
No. A proposal can affect neighbours or introduce occupants near a local source outside the mapped area. Review the actual sources, receptors, development effects and applicable planning requirements.
Is the 2027–2031 Air Quality Action Plan already adopted?
The council published it as a consultation draft. Consultation closed on 18 October 2026. As checked on 20 October 2026, the linked material remains a draft, while the earlier action plan was extended through 2026.
How should restaurant extract and odour be addressed?
Policy 121 addresses ventilation and odour control. Provide the equipment, operating hours, treatment, discharge and nearby receptor details, and coordinate these with fan noise and the building layout.
Bromley / Your next step
Discuss your air quality project
Send the site, proposal and planning stage. Include any council request and programme constraints so ACP can identify the assessment steps.
Your details are handled under our privacy policy.
Sources / Local and London evidence
Bromley sources and further reading
- 2025 annual report: May 2026 publication
- Council annual-report library
- Defra expanded AQMA record
- Adopted Local Plan gateway
- Local Plan Policies 120, 121 and 123
- January 2025 validation requirements
- Application-specific validation checklist
- Current supplementary guidance
- Orpington Town Centre SPD
- Bromley Town Centre SPD
- Local Plan review
- Draft Air Quality Action Plan 2027–2031
- AQAP consultation dates
- Defra local-authority dashboard
- London air-quality policy, borough finder and tools